Uchiha Legacy: Redemption
by Midan no Hatake
Summary: Three friends. Three forces that together will change history. NaruHina. SasuIno. ItaSaku. Hiatus removed because my inner voice told me to finish it.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; the closest I can get is buying DVDs.

A/N: This is a rewrite of the original Prologue. I hope it's better than the first.

Prologue.

Fifteen year old Sophia Roland stands tapping her foot and clicking her fingers to the pulsing beat of the music blaring through her earbuds as she waits for the school bus, much to the annoyance of the group of elderly women complaining about the state of society today and the disrespect of the modern youth for elders, and to the amusement of the other teens sitting on the bench next to the young couple with a two year old daughter, who amuses herself with a little blue ball. The mother has a harsh rattling cough, her husband has his arm wrapped around her shoulders, rubs her back when she begins to cough, setting the child down next to him on the bench.

A pickup roars up to the stop and the teens rush out enthusiastically, one to the front seat and the other four to the back. Sophia sighs, wishing that she were seventeen so she could get her license and be able to drive the blue Lancer in the garage. A violent fit of coughing grips the young mother, Sophia can hear her chest rattle over the thumping of the music in her ears. She and the old women look over in concern, and the little girl pauses in playing with her ball to look up at her mother. It takes several moments but the young woman regains her breath and smiles wearily at her husband. Sophia turns back to the road, staring at the house across from the stop.

A cry from the child makes her look around. The toddler has dropped her ball and it has rolled into the middle of the road. Sophia takes the earbuds out and waves the father back.

"I'll get it," she says, walking forward. She looks up and down the street, checking for traffic. Only a green Mazda parked a few houses down. She bends over and picks up the ball and an engine revs, breaking the quiet atmosphere of the neighborhood. Sophia looks toward the sound to see the muzzle of an automatic rifle aimed at her from the passenger side of the Mazda. Her eyes widen and she hears the distinctive rat-tat-tat of an AK-47, and before she can move the bullets slam into her, tearing into her lungs, but not from the Mazda, they come from somewhere behind her to her left. Another gun fires, this time the bullets come from the Mazda. She slumps forward as the Mazda turns and roars off down the street. Behind her, she can hear another car doing the same. Sophia wonders if her being shot had anything to do with the incident two years ago as her lungs fill with blood and her heart struggles and fails because the bullets have torn the muscle of the valves so that the blood is no longer flowing where it should.

Dimly, she hears the little girl crying, the mother is trying to comfort her and the old women are babbling frantically, uncertain what they should do. The young man is speaking on a cellphone, it sounds like the police, and she turns her head and stares at the ball in her hand. She had not let go of it all the while bullets ripped through her, and she stares at it now, focusing on it to block the pain. She doesn't try to breathe, because she knows it wouldn't work, her lungs are filling too quickly. She knows she is dying when her vision slowly fills with blinding light and she gives in to the blackness lingering at the edge of it.

00000000000000000

Sophia opened her eyes and looked around blearily. She was in a large white expanse that seemed to go on forever as far as she could see, and did not look anything like what she had been expecting Hell to be like. Maybe it was Purgatory? But then where were the other souls?

She tried to get up from where she lay only to find that she was not lying on the floor, but rather floating about two feet off it. Her movement had caused her to begin tumbling slightly and she waved around trying to regain her balance. She idly noted that she was nude and the bloody bullet wounds had disappeared.

Just as she had managed to get her balance and stop her movement, gravity seemed to make up its mind that it had had enough fun and decided to drop her on her butt. Surprisingly the bump did hurt, especially as Sophia had no protection from it. Getting to her feet she looked around suspiciously, wondering what would have prompted the sudden increase in gravity. Turning around to look behind her she jumped back involuntarily and gazed up at a huge being she had only ever seen in books of mythology.

It was a Shinigami – Death God, found in Japanese mythology. She gulped in awe as she gazed at the being before her. It noticed that she was gaping at it and raised an eyebrow at her. Then it began to shrink… well not precisely _shrink_, more like _decrease in size_, although the overpowering presence it evinced did not diminish in the slightest. She moved back another step as it came down to her level. It now stood at 6 feet 8 inches and probably weighed more than she cared to guess. It looked her over; its stare quickly reminding her that she was bare ass naked and could really use some clothes to cover her modesty.

The Shinigami tilted its head and flicked its wrist and Sophia was fully clothed again in the clothes she had been wearing when she had just died, minus the rips and bloodstains.

'Um… thanks?' she said. 'Where am I? Am I dead? And what's going on?' she asked.

The Shinigami raised the other eyebrow but answered her question, although his (Sophia noticed its voice was in no way comparable to a woman's) voice carried a small undertone of amusement.

'You, human, are in the place that lies between dimensions. I brought you here.' He peered at Sophia and nodded to himself when he saw that she was not going to interrupt him. She did however have a- as the humans called it- WTF expression on her face. 'I brought you here because I needed a solution to a problem I have and you fit the required category. Your knowledge and lack of knowledge simultaneously make you ideal for my purposes. The world in question is the "Naruto" world you know from watching on television.'

Sophia gaped at him but then forced her expression under control as the Death God continued.

'As you know, Gods have limited access to the future and may see those events more accurately than humans. My family and I joined our abilities and attempted to determine what would have happened had a certain event not transpired. What we found was that the Fourth Shinobi World War would not have resulted in the destruction of more than half of the Allied Shinobi Forces and a major decrease in our power. So we decided that in order to avert that outcome we would have to bring in a new player to up their world's chances of survival. We chose you. When you were killed it was to our advantage, otherwise we would have had to resort to killing you ourselves or simply choosing a higher or lower potential candidate. Because you were such a powerful psychic we were able to collect your soul when you died through a massive effort. There is not much time left so you must now now or you will be pulled back to your world.' He smirked.

'As I am sure you are aware, the penalty for murder is hell, even though it was self –defense it would still be considered murder by the gods of your forefathers.'

Sophia blinked. How could he know about her uncle trying to kill her?

'Not to mention that if you accept, your wish of having a second life with all your memories intact will be granted, albeit in a different fashion than you desired.' He stepped closer until he towered over Sophia. 'Do you accept this deal?' he asked, staring down at Sophia with an unreadable expression.

Sophia took a deep breath. This was far more than she had actually expected. And she definitely knew it would have a sadistic twist to it. This was the God of Death for crying out loud. Still…

'I accept.'

The Shinigami smirked, and then placed one hand on her forehead. Sophia fell into a swirling red world and lost consciousness.

After what seemed like an eternity, Sophia's strength began to seep back slowly.

After a few minutes, she was able to drag her mind back from the red-tinged, swirling blackness she had succumbed to when the Shinigami had sent her to its world. She tried to move but couldn't, when she did Sophia found that she had very little control over her muscles. And when she did manage to move her arm properly, she bumped into something that felt very… well **strange** would be an understatement. Sophia puzzled over that for a few minutes then gave up. Concentrating on her body, Sophia focused on interpreting the sensations she was experiencing – warmth, comfort, and a feeling of being suspended in some kind of fluid. If she really had to make an answer, she would guess that she was in an artificial womb of some kind.

'Indeed, but it is not an artificial womb, but a real one.' said the Shinigami's voice. 'We decided to send you back in time to a place where you would have easy access to the things you would need to correct the calamity. The Uchiha clan is the Village peacekeeping department of Konoha and has access to the more… dangerous techniques in the archives. We need you to become strong enough to prevent the calamity during the war.' The Shinigami paused for a second to gather the rest of the explanation he needed.

Through the explanation Sophia had been having a major freak out session from the moment she had heard the name UCHIHA. Since her mind had regained its functionality she had been listening carefully to the Shinigami's words, and from what she had heard she realized that she was currently in the womb of a Uchiha clan member, which all in all was not so bad in itself except for the fact that one of her favourite characters was from this clan.

Itachi. Was. Awesome.

'Hey, Shinigami, whose womb am I in right now?' she asked before the God could start talking again.

The god chuckled. 'I was just coming to that.' He said.

We thought that you would be better off if you were born into the main family of the clan so we took the liberty of "reincarnating" you, so to speak, as Sasuke Uchiha's twin. This timeline is an alternate; the events of the "previous" future are set in stone so we sent you back in time to create a new future. And if you are worrying about the Massacre, the reasons for it remain the same. As for what happens after you complete your task, that is up to you. The options you have are many, included among them are working for me after completing your mission. But you have years in which to decide so take your time.' He paused again.

'What is it? And should I call you Master, seeing as I'm now working for you?' asked Sophia, "talking" through the overwhelming cascade of emotions prancing their merry way through her mind.

'Hmm? Yes, you will call me Master. I just realized that I'll have to assign you a teacher because I have other duties to attend to. You willneed to become extremely skilled in order to effectively reverse the destruction of the Allied Forces. Now, currently Mikoto is in her fourth month of pregnancy. So that will be all the time you have to get all the theory down. For now I will teach you. Once you are born you will begin actual training. Now, shall we start on Theory today or would you like some time to absorb first?'

'Let's start today. It'll distract me from the all-round strangeness of being in the womb again and being able to actually feel it, which is absolutely freaky by the way.'

'As you wish. Now, tell me the first thing you know about chakra…'


	2. Rebirth

**Rebirth.**

It seemed like an eternity since Sophia had accepted the Shinigami's offer, but in actuality, it was only two days. So far, she had been reviewing all she knew about chakra control and techniques with her new master while he selected a suitable teacher for her. It turned out she knew more about the results of jutsu than she did about how they worked. Obviously. The show usually only focused on the plot. The only times the inner workings of jutsu were focused on were mostly in direct relation to an ongoing battle or the preparation for an imminent one. The Shinigami had been correcting her and lecturing her on the basics, thankfully, her memory was photographic and she was able to remember most of what she learned. All the new information, though was giving her a very bad headache.

'Owww,' she groaned, 'how is it even possible for a fetus to have a headache? Hey, Boss, have you picked out a teacher for me yet? And just out of curiosity is it going to be a demon?'

'Respect for your elders child, is a must.' Admonished the Shinigami. "And yes, I have selected a teacher for you. His name is Minoru. I recruited him as I did you, although from this world instead, some two hundred years ago, in order to perform tasks for me in the human world. When his contract was completed, he decided to enter into full service for me and elected to become a demon. And if you think that headache is bad, you better prepare for pure hell when Minoru takes over. Pun intended. He will be with you until you are able to begin training on your own when you are born.'

Sophia mentally rolled her eyes. 'Great, I have to experience hell _before_ I'm born. How wacked out is that?'

Frosty silence came from the mental link between her and the God.

'Okay, I'm sorry, bad joke.' She apologised.

'Bad joke indeed.' Said the Shinigami dryly.

'Hey, Boss?' said Sophia suddenly. "What's the catch? Or the actual nature of my mission? I was kind of, mildly, ever so slightly suspicious when I first heard your offer.'

'What makes you think there's a catch? Or that I lied about the nature of the task you've been given?'

'Oh, come on. Its common knowledge that a deal with any foreign, or even sometimes your own god usually has some kind of catch to it, or the real task or part of it, is kept secret until the last moment.' Sophia stated.

The Shinigami was silent for few moments. 'Well, I did tell my siblings that someone from another world would be more suspicious than someone from our own. You know that occasionally there are one or two gods that go bad and have to be bound right?' he inquired.

Receiving an affirmative answer from Sophia, he continued. 'There are sometimes gods who seek directly to overthrow other gods and take their place. But from time to time, they fail and sometimes destroyed by the one whose place they sought to claim for themselves. Now destroying a god is a serious thing to do because it upsets a balance in the universe. So the offending individual is sealed away forever, bound by the power of the other gods. Now, the war that is coming is going to take place very close to a sealed goddess. She may try to reach through the seal to use the destructive energies expended by the shinobi in the surrounding area to break free of the binding spell.'

'I take it this goddess has some connection to chaos or war or similar forces?' interrupted Sophia. 'She draws power from whatever it may be? Why not renew the seal?' she asked.

'Renewing the seal is impossible.' Stated the Shinigami flatly. 'It is at its maximum strength already and will remain so. You must understand that this goddess was strong enough to come close to defeating my sibling for his place. She was extremely difficult to seal since it took place in a very savage era, she drew upon the energy of the humans and their wars in her attempt. But when the mortals realized what was happening they somehow managed to shut her out, in the process discovering a few of our secrets. One group you know as Shinobi.'

'Whoa. So the Sage of Six Paths discovered your secrets and passed them on to his followers. Interesting.' Commented Sophia.

The Shinigami sighed. 'Of course you would know of that particular human. The seal that restrains the goddess is inscribed on an altar in the Hidden Mist village. Your task will be to make sure the altar the seal is inscribed upon is not destroyed in the war. The battle to take place there will be one of the pivotal points in the war and as such will be particularly violent. That is the extent of your mission.'

Sophia was silent for a few moments, thinking. "Does she escape the seal in the previous future?'

'That is not something that pertains to your mission, girl. So leave it alone.'

'If I had eyebrows right now they would in my hairline. Is this one of those rules? Where you _can_ do things but if you do anything, you'll make something go wrong? Did she escape in the previous timeline?'

Silence, again, and for a moment she thought her Master would not answer.

'That also does not concern you,' he paused, 'the most I can say is that it is complicated and a family matter.'

'Hm. So, I was wondering why you didn't make this offer to someone from this world instead.'

'Are you regretting your decision?' asked the Shinigami silkily.

'Of course not.' Sophia's voice was mild. 'I'm just wondering why you went all the way to another dimension for someone to serve your purpose instead of using someone from your own world, that's all.'

The Shinigami snorted. 'We were bored, and we wondered how an Outlander would handle it.'

Sophia didn't say anything for a few moments as she thought that over. This seemed a bit more complicated than the usual god politics you'd find in an ordinary world. But since when was any god ordinary, and then again it might be because it was happening to her and not someone else.

'That's it?' she asked probingly. 'You were bored, that's why you picked me? And why didn't you just reincarnate me in the Mist village instead?'

'Yes, we were bored. To both.' Answered the Shinigami.

'Gods are odd sorts.' She commented. 'By the way, when is Mikoto- eh, mother due?' she changed the subject, since her Master did not seem to want to answer the questions her mind was coming up with.

'In five months. Are you claustrophobic by any chance?'

'No. I suppose I'll have to experience birth again. I have to say, I'm kind of nervous about that.'

'It's nothing to be worried about. All babies are conscious at birth.' Said the Shinigami.

'I suppose you're right.' Agreed Sophia. She sighed. She would focus on learning all the theory she could and when the time came for Mikoto to deliver, well, she would fret then.

The new teacher eventually arrived and the Shinigami left, leaving Sophia's training to the demon. She blanked out and then landed in a desert.

"Not again…" she groaned as she stood up and brushed herself off. "Why do I keep getting sucked into foreign landscapes?" She stood up and looked around- and then looked down when she realized that her body felt different. She saw that she was her own age again, but with one slight difference. The body she wore was not her old form. She raised her hands and looked at them, then lifted them to touch her face. _So_ definitely not her old form, _and_ she was naked _again_. Hey, she didn't look half-bad. Behind her, someone cleared his or her throat. She turned around.

Behind her stood a tall, well-built man with long brown hair who appeared to be in his middle or late twenties. Dark green eyes in tanned, finely chiseled features considered her contemplatively as he stood with his hands resting lightly on his narrow hips. He raised his eyebrow at her. She raised hers right back.

"Why am I nude, again?" she asked. "And what happened to my body?"

He snorted. "That is what you will look like when you become a teenager. I thought you should get used to it. After all, you can't fight in your current physical form. As for being nude - well, I don't mind. Look around and tell me where you think you are."

Sophia narrowed her eyes at him, but did as bidden. He did not seem like someone who would do something without a reason. The desert was of fine, dull grey sand and the sky was the same ambiguous shade, both extending unendingly in all directions. What light there was came from some unseen ambient source. All in all, the scene was textbook fundamental mindscape material. If that was true she mused, then… she looked down at her unclothed form. Focusing her mind, she pictured the clothes she was most familiar with, a basic t-shirt and jeans and boots. The sand rippled, and flowed up her body, forming the clothes she visualized.

"Good," Approved Minoru. "But not quite appropriate training garb. This should do." The clothing rippled and changed into a mesh shirt under a short black fighting kimono tied with a blue obi, and black biker shorts. Black shinobi sandals and gloves completed the outfit. When the clothing was completely changed, the entire landscape shifted and Sophia found herself in a classroom. Minoru was standing at the front of the room next to the blackboard. The floor rippled and a desk and chair rose from the boards.

"This," he waved his arm in an all-encompassing gesture, "Is your Mindscape. It's where you'll train mentally while in the womb." Gesturing for her to take a seat, he picked up a piece of chalk and began jotting on the board in Japanese characters, none of which Sophia could understand. She sighed.

"Minoru-sensei, I can't read those characters." She said.

He paused in mid-stroke and glanced from the board to her, then rubbed out the characters and began writing another set of symbols.

"If you can't read them then I'll have to teach you. I don't do things halfway. When I leave you, you will be versed in theory at least to Jonin level and well able to put that theory to good use." He flicked a glance at her. "Clear?"

Sophia blinked nervously, and then stiffened in her seat when she felt a sharp, cold edge rest against the base of her throat. "Clear?" questioned Minoru again, speaking softly in her ear.

"Yes sir." She answered, and relaxed when the edge lifted from her throat.

"Good." Minoru set down the chalk and faced her. He grinned ominously. "Let's begin, shall we?"

Sophia nodded. "Yes sir." She kept the thought that her new sensei looked like a rapacious wolf with that look on his face to herself.

00000000000000000000

It turned out that the Shinigami had understated the intensity of the backbreaking training Minoru commenced. During the five months that Sophia spent in Mikoto's womb Minoru plunged her into an avalanche of theory and simulated training. In theory, her saving grace was again her photographic memory.

She learned large amounts of basic theory on ninjutsu, genjutsu and taijutsu. When Minoru quizzed her on the information that she learned she recited the answers rapid-fire. As she proceeded to devour that, she moved on to some advanced theory; in hand-to-hand combat, other methods of taijutsu, including basic weapons lessons

She put her lessons in theory to practice in the Mindscape simulation training, where Minoru would throw everything and anything he could think of at her, increasing the difficulty of each test as she learned and improved. Quite often, he would randomly change the layout and structure of any given test, in order for her to learn how to apply the basic training she received, and which she often combined with tactics from whatever else she knew of, in seemingly radically different situations. While this strategy enabled her to pass most tests with flying colors, it was here that she began to realize some the darker facets of becoming a shinobi. Injury, maiming, torture and death were all facts of life in the shinobi world, and as very traumatic experiences, since she had experienced death and being told that there actually was a hell, she had no wish to take someone's life. That was a sore point between Minoru and her.

He criticized her kindhearted attitude and punished her ruthlessly for it, pushing at her, bearing down and enraging her until she finally saw red, lost it and ruthlessly cut down a dozen shades, trying to attack him while he laughed mockingly at her, hands on his hips. She could barely recognize herself when she looked back and and saw the crumpled bodies slowly dissolving on the ground. She did not enjoy it in the slightest, and the revulsion she felt for it was so strong that she threw up. Minoru stared at her and then walked over, knelt and put a hand on her back.

"The first time you do this for real," he said when her heaves subsided, "You'll feel much worse than this. People like you always do."

Sophia shuddered, and then sat back on her heels, eyes closed. The puddle of vomit seeped into the ground as her eyes opened and she smiled wanly. "I don't doubt it," she said. "I'll never get used to killing."

Minoru gave her an expectant look. "But..?" he prompted.

She glanced at him and snorted, got to her feet, assuming a ready stance. "Come on, I still need to learn blocking."

Minoru smirked and sprang, lunging forwards and coming up inside her guard, slamming a fist into her chin and forcing her to disobey gravity by flying up and backwards.

00000000000000000

D-Day – "Delivery" day, that is – arrived with a series of contractions that forced Sophia and Sasuke together and ruptured the placenta so that the amniotic fluid rushed out. The contractions continued for several hours, and Sophia grew progressively nervous the longer the contractions took. Finally, they grew more intense, and she felt Sasuke slip a little next to her and then slide out. It was her turn next and she felt the muscles clench around her and then push her out. She heard someone talking, but couldn't really understand what he or she was saying. She felt someone slowly and carefully pulling her out and then she was free. Now that she was no longer in the womb, she needed to breathe, but when she gasped for air, it came out more of a thin cry.

A while later, she and Sasuke were clean and wrapped in blankets, pink for Sophia and blue for her twin. The attending nurse who congratulated the ecstatic parents carried them in, laid them in Mikoto and Fugaku's arms. Mikoto held Sophia and Fugaku held Sophia's new twin.

"They're beautiful," said Mikoto softly, gazing tenderly at her babies. Sophia opened her eyes and looked up at her mother, then looked to the side and saw Fugaku cradling Sasuke in his arms.

"What will we name them?" asked Fugaku, stroking his son's cheek.

'Yes, please,' thought Sophia, 'give me a good name Kaa-san.'

Mikoto glanced from Sophia to her twin thoughtfully. A few moments later she smiled.

"You, small one," she tapped Sophia's nose gently, "will be called _Mika Uchiha, _and as for you my son," she reached out and softly tapped her son's nose, "you will be _Sasuke Uchiha_."

**Author's notes: Yay! Second chapter out and I think I've improved a little! Leave me a review and tell me if you think so too. **

_**Love, Midan**_**.**


	3. Baby bottoms and other things

**Disclaimer: I repeat: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO. If I did, Naruto would **_**not**_** wear that god-awful orange jumpsuit. **

**Author notes at the bottom. To you mysterious readers, who refuse to leave a review and alleviate my agony, Enjoy. Tee – hee. This chapter will annoy a lot of the Uchiha haters, I'm sure. I am also terrible at dialogue. I do better at narrative.**

**Baby Bottoms and Other Things.**

Later that afternoon the door of Mikoto's hospital room opened and Itachi quietly padded in. Mikoto looked up and smiled softly at him. Fugaku wasn't there; he'd only been able to take that morning off work, his position as head of Konoha's police force entailed piles of paperwork at times and unfortunately for his wish to spend more time with his wife and newborn son and daughter, this was one of those busy times.

"Itachi, hello," greeted Mikoto.

"Good afternoon, Kaa-san," Itachi smiled back. He crossed to his mother's side and peered at the blue bundle she cuddled. All he could see was a rosy little face topped with black fuzz and two tiny fists curled next to the cheeks.

"What's his name?" he asked, gently touching one of the tiny hands with his finger. The baby's eyes half opened and then gently closed again.

"Sasuke," replied Mikoto.

"After the Third Hokage's father?"

His mother nodded, "That's right. How was the Academy today?"

Itachi went over to the crib where his sister lay. "It was all right. Same as yesterday, I suppose." He stared at his new sister. "What did you name her?" he asked. The kid was definitely awake and staring right back at him. She squirmed in the pink blanket she was swaddled in with a gummy pink grimace – or grin… He was sure one-day-old babies didn't get gas that early.

"Her name is Mika," Mikoto replied. "Pick her up carefully, like I showed you."

"Okay." He carefully slid his arms under his sister and lifted her, cradling her against his chest. He walked over to the chair by the head of the bed and sat down. Once he had picked her up, Mika had stopped wriggling and settled down contentedly, gazing up at him with big, liquid onyx eyes.

"Hmm, you're supposed to be asleep, small one," murmured Mikoto, looking at her daughter who seemed absorbed by Itachi and was looking at him quietly.

The baby burbled softly at Itachi. "I don't think she's ready to go to sleep," he commented. He looked at his mother, seeing the thin lines on her forehead and the vague shadows under her deep onyx eyes, so like his own and those of his new siblings. "How are you feeling?" he asked. Mikoto hadn't been well the week before; she had come to the hospital having caught a head cold that had developed into a cold, which in turn had faded into a chesty cough. It had disappeared before the due date but she had still been tired before the delivery.

"I'm alright, Itachi, thank you." She smiled at him. He nodded and looked again at Mika. She had closed her eyes and fallen asleep.

0000000000000000

Mika (Sophia) grunted as her back slammed into a tree. Catching sight of the foot hurtling toward her head, she jumped up and landed gracefully on a branch. The trunk splintered as it took the blow meant for her face and Mika leapt away before the tree could take her with it. She winced and rubbed her back, then dodged a flurry of sharp pointy objects, winding up parrying a barrage of blows that continued for another hour before Minoru called a break.

"Not bad girl, low Jōnin level. You may do me proud yet," commented Minoru, leaning back on his elbows. "Change the scenery would you?"

Mika grinned slightly. Open compliments from Minoru were scarce; she usually got a nod or a grunt of acknowledgement. She closed her eyes and the forest surrounding them wavered, replaced by high, craggy mountains that seemed to tickle the blue underside of the sky. Grassy tundra surrounded them on all sides and the forest reappeared in the distance bordering the plains. This was her sensei's favourite view, and truth be told, it was fast becoming hers as well; there was a kind of rugged peace in it. It was open and wide, the forests and plains were beautiful and the heights of the mountains made one feel like there was nothing that could trouble you, yet you still belonged to the earth and its world. She looked over at Minoru. He had closed his eyes and lifted his face to the wind, his hair was loose and it flew wildly around his face. Minoru treated these mountains like his home and she felt he would be content to ramble around them for the rest of his life, given the opportunity.

Now, Mika imitated her teacher and closed her eyes, listening to the wind roaring through the mountains and rustling through the grasses of the plains below. Minoru promptly opened his eyes and squinted sidelong at Mika.

It was unbelievable that his master would choose someone as soft as she was to do this. A civilian. Really. But he had to admit that his master had chosen someone with backbone and a brain in her head, for all the reluctance to kill. Twice she had caught him off guard and only by a rather shameful amount of reflex action had he punched and kicked her away from striking him. Were he human and this not a training session in Mindscape, he would be dead at her feet. But for all her increasing skill he was still not satisfied, perfectionist that he was. He needed someone strong as he had been when he was human for his own agenda. Two centuries was far too long to hold a summoning contract; Akuma-sama was getting impatient. He had resigned himself to imprinting his affinity to her, but when he tried, to his amazed delight, he found the girl already had the affinity, inborn. Pleased, he had gone to Sanmyaku no Okori (1) to tell Akuma-sama he had found someone suitable for the contract. After demanding to be told everything about the potential summoner the Elder judged Mika fit, but not after remarking that never had an Uchiha held summon to any of his clan.

"They all prefer those bloody birds of theirs," he had scoffed to Minoru. Smiling openly, he had agreed and then left so Akuma-sama could get back to patrolling his borders and lunch. Akuma had trained him when he had first discovered his summoning ability. Because of the old jōshi (superior), he had become powerful enough to warrant himself the notice of a lieutenant of the Shinigami. Things had progressed from there and led to the position he now found himself in: sitting on a cliff looking at the girl who just might be his legacy. Fate was odd sometimes.

"Break's over girl, back to work." He jumped from the cliff.

0000000000000000

Mika was three months old and vexed. She wiggled in her crib. Being a baby was _not_ all you'd think it to be.

Diapers for one thing. Yuck. Every time she had a motion, she cried out for Mikoto, to get changed and away from the gross. She hadn't been too wild about the idea of breastfeeding but she still knew that there were good, solid reasons why she shouldn't make a fuss and to wait at least a month until refusing to breastfeed. The immunity factor was mainly what subdued her internal protests.

She couldn't talk or move yet, despite the waving arms and legs around and energetic babbling, which prompted her family members excepting Fugaku, to pick her up often and play with her, making baby talk comments about what a lively little baby she was. She gave a tiny groan, remembering the teasing she got from Minoru when he had been there and Auntie had been bouncing her on her lap and making goo-goo noises at her. Most of all, she was _bored_ out of her mind, no pun intended. She was a bookworm by nature, and was slowly going stir-crazy without a book in her hands to devour.

She heard someone come into the room she and Sasuke shared. Fugaku and Itachi had left for work and the Academy respectively that morning so it could only be Mikoto. She heard her mother moving around the room and opening the closet. She took something out and went outside, but came back in a few minutes later.

"Come on you two, you're going to meet Auntie Kushina!" she sang happily, as she dressed first Sasuke, then Mika and packed their baby bag.

'Kushina?!' yelped Mika in her head. 'As in Kushina Uzumaki, the mother of one Naruto Uzumaki? That Kushina?'

Mikoto picked her up in one arm and Sasuke in the other. He giggled and cooed up at Mikoto. She smiled down at him and kissed the top of his head as she carried them outside into the bright late summer sun. Mika looked around and spotted a twin stroller next to the steps and a bag hooked to the handle. Mikoto strapped them in, and slinging the bag over her shoulder, began pushing the stroller. Mika looked around avidly, taking in as much as she could from her viewpoint in the stroller.

She hadn't realized the Uchiha were such a large clan. It took them ten minutes to get to the edge of the district. Mika was astonished at the size of the village. It hadn't seemed that big in the anime and manga, but it was huge now. Fifteen minutes later, they arrived in a large, lovely park. Mikoto pushed the stroller towards a bench situated in a quiet, shady corner of the park. There was a woman seated on the bench with a basket beside her. She had long red hair and wore a dark green dress with a blue high-collared blouse under it.

Mikoto pushed the stroller over to her as the woman stood up with a broad grin. Mika could see that she was very pregnant and whooped ecstatically in her head.

'Yay, I'm actually meeting Kushina Uzumaki!' She looked at Kushina's' full stomach. 'I suppose that's Naruto in there. He's not even born yet. This is unbelievable…'

Mikoto parked the stroller facing the bench and bowed to Kushina, who laughed, returned the bow and stepped forward to hug her friend.

"Kushina, you look well," complimented Mikoto. Kushina smiled and gestured to the bench.

"So do you, Mikoto," she said as they sat. "How have you been?"

"I've been alright. I had a cold before the delivery but I got over it in time. It was easier than I thought." She smiled merrily at her friend and leaned forward to tickle Sasuke and Mika under their chins. Sasuke giggled and waved his hands. Mika, however, kept gazing raptly at Kushina as the two women began chatting about Mikoto's pregnancy. Kushina listening to Mikoto intently as her friend told her about what she had experienced, interrupting at times to ask questions.

"_Ne_, Mikoto… does it, y'know, hurt very much?" asked Kushina nervously, her blue eyes widened in anxiety.

Mikoto chuckled, "Why Kushina, I thought you weren't afraid of anything," she teased gently.

She huffed. "Of course I'm scared. But mostly because of…" she looked away at the other occupants of the park, and then turned back to Mikoto. "You know…" her hand went to her stomach.

Mika knew she wasn't talking about the pregnancy.

Mikoto's smile softened and she put her hand over her friend's own. "You're strong, Kushina. You'll get through this." She reassured.

Kushina's face brightened and she smiled more cheerfully. "Yeah, I'll beat that old fox, _dattebane_!"

Mika giggled; Naruto really did take after his mother, or rather, he would. Kushina turned to her, smiling, and lifted her out of the stroller and cuddling her.

"Laughing at me, are you?" she asked, hugging Mika and patting her cheek gently with her fingers.

"Aaaa," said Mika, waving a tiny hand at her and Kushina tapped her nose gently. She looked curiously at the child and then switched her glance to Sasuke, then Mikoto.

"She looks more like Itachi than Sasuke," she remarked to Mikoto, "but do you know who she resembles to me?" She turned Mika toward Mikoto, who shook her head, a puzzled smile on her face.

"She reminds me of Madara, in those restored paintings."

Mika blinked up at Kushina. She looked like Madara? That was **news**.

Sasuke wriggled in his seat and began crying for attention. Mikoto smiled and unfastened him from the stroller, lifting him above her head and smiling at him. He grumbled for a few minutes and then began laughing as Mikoto bounced him on her lap, making goo-goo noises at him.

"Aww," Kushina chuckled, "I can't wait for my turn. That's so sweet."

Mikoto laughed, wrapping Sasuke securely in her arms. "Three more months, be patient. After all if he comes early, then there's usually something wrong."

Kushina made a face at Mikoto, and returned her gaze to the twins. "When he comes I want the three of them to be great friends. They'll walk around together and talk and laugh and things…" she trailed off and exchanged dreamy smiles with Mikoto.

"A picnic? And nobody invited me?" said a voice.

Mikoto and Kushina looked up and saw the Yondaime Hokage walking towards their bench. Mika tore her rapt gaze from Kushina and transferred it to Minato. Then exhaled in relief that she was three months old and physically incapable of squealing in awe. Minato was far better looking than in the anime, and could definitely make the oldest crone sigh wistfully.

"Hokage-sama, Good afternoon." Said Mikoto, rising and bowing to Minato.

"Minato, I love it when you show up like this but don't you have paperwork?" asked Kushina as Minato returned Mikoto's bow and kissed Kushina on the cheek.

"Yes, but I figured out a way to get around it before my assistant tracks me down and hauls me back to the office." The two women moved the basket to the end of the bench and made space for him to sit next to Kushina. "Who are these two strangers?" he joked, peering first at Sasuke then Mika.

"This is Sasuke," Mikoto bounced him a little, "and that's Mika."

Minato bent forward and chucked Sasuke under his chin, making him giggle. Mika wiggled a bit because she was starting to get hungry. Minato saw it out of the corner of his eye and turned his attention from tickling Sasuke's stomach to make him laugh. Minato looked into her eyes, then blinked and turned to Mikoto.

"May I?" he asked.

"Sure," responded Mikoto, and Minato appropriated Mika from Kushina, holding her carefully on his lap. Keen blue eyes measured her and Mika shifted her body a little, wondering if Minato had sensed something about her. Suddenly he smiled.

"You are special, I think," he said softly, and Mika gave him an odd look while Mikoto and Kushina blinked at him in confusion. "You're going to be a very interesting woman when you grow up, Mika-chan."

_So he sensed something… I suppose I shouldn't be this surprised… And damnit I hate being called "Chan". _

He looked like he wanted to say something more but shook his head, apparently deciding against it. "I hope you two will be friends with my son," he told her and then tapped her nose gently and handed her back to Kushina. "I'd better get back or Inoue will fuss. See you later." He kissed Kushina, tickled Sasuke and bowed to Mikoto, then disappeared.

Mikoto and Kushina looked at each other and then turned puzzled stares at Mikoto's three-month-old daughter who had apparently engendered the Hokage's interest and then fallen asleep.

"What was that about?" wondered Mikoto.

"Not a clue," replied Kushina, "I don't think he'll say though, even if I ask."

00000000000000000

When the twins were ten months old, they were sitting up; at one year, they were crawling, and were soon scrambling around the house and exploring everywhere they weren't actively discouraged from going. When he was home, Itachi was always on babysitting duty when he had finished schoolwork and chores. He was forever chasing after Sasuke and Mika, who would try to give him the slip and crawl off to explore the house. When they were thirteen months old and learned to walk he was forever running after Sasuke, who delighted in coming up with ways to escape him and getting Mika to help him. Poking them in their foreheads whenever he got amused or exasperated only got him adorable giggles and more exercise.

Itachi flopped down on the living room couch, pulled out a jutsu scroll and began reading it slowly, looking up every so often to check on the twins who were playing with some toys on the floor.

Of the two, Sasuke was the more energetic, toddling around and examining things, and on one occasion, accidentally breaking a plate when he took a misstep and grabbed on to the kitchen table to steady himself, knocking the plate off the table and onto the floor. Miraculously none of the china fragments hurt him and the plate hadn't been that expensive.

Mika, on the other hand, was somewhat different from Sasuke. She had learned how to sit up, crawl and walk before Sasuke had. He'd heard her practicing when he'd woken up sometimes at night when he couldn't sleep. He had considered telling his mother that when she had gone gaga when the twins had stood up and begun taking their first steps, but decided against it, figuring it would probably get him only a few disbelieving looks.

He briefly mused that the early actions probably meant that the twins would follow in his footsteps and become prodigies. He sighed. That might not be the best thing for them; it would earn them both tons of pressure from their parents and the rest of the clan, not to mention the elders who he knew kept tabs on his own progress ever since his prodigious talent had revealed itself. On the other hand, if they didn't turn out to be geniuses like him, then that might also put pressure on them. His thoughts turned back to his little sister.

Mika didn't exhibit most of the clumsiness that Sasuke had, she was steadier on her feet and moved more quietly and was a bit quicker than Sasuke. Strangely, though, that wasn't what Itachi found so different. Her eyes were what interested him. They were blacker than the new moon and very intelligent. It was like trying to realize shadows. She hid it well, but she seemed to him an old soul in a young body. He wasn't certain if anyone else had noticed that particular trait about her, though the first thing people noticed and remarked on were her eyes – that and how much she took after him; another nail in the coffin that would trap her in his footsteps.

He looked thoughtfully at his two siblings. It didn't really matter what their differences were when it came to each other, their bond was strong as any pair of twins. Sasuke could persuade Mika to do almost anything and Mika could usually talk Sasuke out of his more risky expeditions. He sighed. "Twin" was an extremely irritating language and nearly impossible to decipher. If someone could only figure out a way to utilize it, a nigh unbreakable code would be in his or her hands.

Suddenly he felt two pairs of little hands on his knees. Sasuke and Mika had gotten bored with their toys and had come over, gazing up at him curiously.

"Aniki?" asked Sasuke. Four months after their first birthday, they had each said their first word. Kaa-san had been ecstatic when Sasuke had said "mama" for the first time, and had made attempts to get Mika to say the same thing. Mika's first word though, had been "Itachi" which made said boy feel secretly proud and warm all over. Their vocabularies weren't very large yet, but they were picking up words quickly. Otou-san had predicted that they would be speaking full sentences by the time they were two.

"Hungry," announced Mika, looking up at him expectantly.

Itachi smiled slightly and rolled up the scroll. "Alright then, come on." He led them into the kitchen. After he fixed them a snack, he played with them for a while before Mikoto shooed them away for their nap and he decided to go to his and Shisui's regular training field and practice his trap skills.

000000000000000

Fugaku slid open the front door, his shoulders stiff and posture rigid with poorly suppressed anger.

_Damn those Elders… _

He slipped off his sandals and went to his and Mikoto's bedroom to change out of his uniform, setting his bag down on the floor next to the closet. When he was done, he went to the kitchen to get something to eat. Mikoto was at the table sipping a cup of tea. She looked up and smiled softly at him, poured him a cup of tea. He sat down and accepted the cup gratefully, sipping it slowly and letting the warmth of the liquid soothe him. Mikoto finished her tea and refilled her cup. When Fugaku finished his tea and set his cup down she refilled it, and Fugaku wrapped his hands around it.

They sat quietly for a few moments, before Fugaku answered his wife's unspoken question.

"The Elders of the clan are considering using Mika as a potential alliance factor. They want to marry her off to some powerful political figure and gain a foothold somewhere."

Mikoto set down her cup with a loud rattle. "They want to use my daughter as a tool for their power plays?"

Fugaku glared angrily into his cup. "Yeah. We didn't intend to enroll her in the Academy, but in light of the development, it may be the only way now to get her out from under the Elders' collective thumb. As a shinobi she might be able to convince them that she is worth more to them on the field of battle than in the harem of some nobleman." He sighed. "At the very least it might postpone their decision."

Mikoto considered this and agreed with her husband. A long moment passed before Fugaku spoke again, his expression becoming serious.

"Mikoto… there've been some – rumors – about a coup-de-tat on Konoha. I've heard reports of whisperings in the Clan from a few of the officers in the Force. I have people listening but it may take some time before I find any real evidence of this supposed coup."

"This could be dangerous," Mikoto mused. "Especially so soon after the Kyuubi attack." She sipped her tea, gazing thoughtfully at the tabletop.

"Indeed. I wonder who is spreading them. But…" he trailed off, thinking hard, the beginnings of an idea glimmering faintly in the back of his mind. Mikoto looked at him intently, sensing him thinking.

"Fugaku… what is it?" she asked.

"I think I have an idea. We'll still enroll her in the Academy, but this coup may be the answer we need to get out of this mess. If the Clan were to obtain political power, Mika wouldn't need to be married off. We would even escape the indignities pressed upon us now by the Council." He looked at Mikoto, eyes ablaze with intensity and saw it reflected in his wife's gaze, her hands clenched around the cup.

**(1) Sanmyaku no Okori: Range of Origin. Did I get the grammar right?**

**Author notes: Bwahhahaha! How many people did I just piss off?! Come, come! Be a good sport and tell me, however you feel like! I will enjoy laughing my ass off at your outraged flames. **

**And as for my minions and shadow readers who like the story, I sincerely hope you enjoyed this chapter. I look forward to your continued support/whatever you call it. (Did that sound like a business letter to you?) **

**And someone mentioned in his review that he'd prefer me not to make Mika "overly in love with Naruto". Thank you, my friend. I'd had a feeling that my summary wasn't quite finished. Turns out, I forgot to put the pairing in. It has been corrected, so everyone check it out and tell me if you like it, love it or if you outright hate it. **

_**Love, Midan. **_


	4. Resolutions

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor am I making any profit from this other than improving my writing skills.**

**Acknowledgements to Frank Herbert and his Dune series. I am now eternally addicted. Reviews are like coffee. Flames shall be used to boil the coffee to its best quality. Author notes at the bottom and again, enjoy!**

**Taken from: ****The Road to Dune, ****by Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson. **

_These things I tell you: the sequential nature of real history cannot be repeated precisely by prescience. We grasp incidents cut out of the chain. That is why I deny my own powers. Eternity moves. It inflicts itself upon me. Let my subjects doubt my majesty and my oracular visions. Let them never doubt eternity. -_DUNESDAY PROVERBS.

**Resolutions.**

Outside in the hallway, Mika stood silently, digesting what she had just overheard. She heard her parents start moving around in the kitchen and quietly turned and crept back to her room. It had been two years since the Kyuubi's attack on Konoha and now she was nearly three years old physically, and eighteen mentally. Of course, she also knew the reason Kurama had attacked the village and the only others who knew the truth of the attack were the Council, and the very Uchiha who had caused the whole fiasco in the first place: Madara. She doubted the Uchiha clan knew the precise reasons why they were now pariahs of a sort.

She slid the door quietly shut and sat down on her futon, folding her legs under her. So apparently, this time she herself was a partial cause of the Execution. Her eyes narrowed in thought. No matter how she looked, poked, prodded and wrestled at it and with it, she couldn't find a way to change the Massacre short of getting herself executed or locked up somewhere. That meant that if she lived because Itachi decided not to kill her and Sasuke, it would fall to them to wipe clean the Uchiha name by completing Itachi's mission: Protect Konoha. And it scared her nearly witless every time she thought about what she'd have to do to complete that mission. So much so that some nights she would sleep and have everything she knew coalesce into one terrifying nightmare that woke her ready to scream and unable to sleep again. Then she would sigh, and set herself to meditation.

Mika looked over at Sasuke's sleeping form. Her twin brother lay curled in a little ball, hugging the pillow, sleeping tranquilly.

_Asuma… and Shikaku… I remember what they told Chouji and Shikamaru… they make even more sense now. I have to become strong. I _haveto_, and so when the time comes, I can protect my family and my friends._

She blinked, and then sighed. _So easy to be the hero when you're nowhere near the danger. But now I'm not _near_ it; I'm in the fucking _middle_._ She flopped back on the bed and pulled a face at the ceiling.

0000000000000

Two years passed and when Sasuke and Mika were five years old, they enrolled in the Ninja Academy. Mikoto was the one to take them to the Academy enrollment ceremony, because Fugaku had forgotten. He had been busy training Itachi that day and only remembered the Ceremony when Itachi reminded him.

After the enrollment ceremony, they were assigned classes and teachers, and then went home to prepare. Classes would begin a week from then. As Mika walked beside her mother, she zoned out a little and reached for Minoru with her mind.

No response.

She sighed and tried again. He did this a lot of the time after she had been born. Usually when she wanted an answer to a question that she had about life in the village or a technique or a random other thing she didn't have enough information on currently even to make an educated guess. And most of the time when he didn't answer he hadn't even been doing anything remotely important, he just did it to annoy her. It worked. Most of the time anyway. Since she would eventually figure it out on her own. Which was the main reason Minoru ignored her in the first place.

This time though, she wanted information concerning her training. And her Shishou had apparently picked this time to play hooky. Wonderful. She rolled her eyes and turned to her mother.

_Okay… where'd she go? _

She looked around. Sometime during her attempts to contact her sensei, Mikoto and Sasuke had disappeared. She decided to check the shops along the street. They might have stepped into one for a moment, but after she stepped out of the last shop, she was scowling in frustration. Her mother and twin were nowhere on the street. She walked a little ways and looked around.

She was at a three-way street. Her mother and twin could have gone down any of them. She remembered that the Uchiha district was located on the eastern side of the Village. She looked up at the sky. The enrollment ceremony had ended just before twelve o'clock, and the sun was directly overhead. No help there. She glanced down the left street and then the right, turned and trotted down the left. She remembered passing the clothing store on that street when they were heading to the Academy that morning. She rounded a corner and bumped into someone, making them drop the scroll they had been holding.

"I'm sorry," apologised Mika, bending down to pick up the scroll.

"Whatever, kid. Just don't make running into people a regular habit," said the woman, accepting the scroll. Mika's eyes widened slightly when she saw whom she had bumped into. Anko Mitarashi.

_Hey, she's younger. I wonder how old she is. Around her late teens maybe? _Automatically her brain pulled up the information on Anko and blinked through the calculations. _She's nineteen. Damn. I have a feeling that'll become annoying later. And very useful. All hail eidetic memory. _

"Ah – yes. Thanks. Have you seen Mikoto Uchiha pass here just now? She's my mother." Mika looked hopefully up at Anko, who frowned thoughtfully.

After a moment, she looked down at Mika. "Yeah," she said, "she and a boy – your brother, I suppose – passed here a few minutes ago." She pointed up the street. "They went that way."

"Thank you." Mika bowed slightly and turned away. Anko stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey kid, I'll go with you and make sure you find them okay?"

Mika blinked up at her, and then smiled. Anko stared at her in fascination. "Thank you- ?" she gave Anko a quizzical look.

"Anko. Anko Mitarashi. And you are?"

"Mika Uchiha. Pleased to meet you Mitarashi-san." They began walking up the street, Anko glancing every so often into one or another of the shops they passed.

"How did you manage to get lost Mika-chan?" asked Anko, glancing at a pastry stall.

Mika flushed. The fact that she hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings nettled her. She was to become a shinobi one day, losing track of her family was not a good start to watching out for her comrades, and she just knew Minoru would have something to say about it the very next training session.

"I was looking at a stall and when I looked up they were gone," she responded quietly.

"Mm. That wasn't very sensible, and I can see quite well that you're a smart kid," reproved Anko, passing three foreign vendors hawking their paltry wares without a glance.

"I know," grumbled Mika. "It's very embarrassing."

They turned a corner and entered a busy little street. Small crowds flowed and ebbed in one direction or another in the vicinities of the various stalls. Children dodged through the impatient shoppers and a few stray dogs sniffed around the backs of the food stalls. Mika glanced around and as she passed one of the food stalls, the dog scrounging around the back looked up and saw her. Its lips pulled back and its ears flattened back on its skull as it snarled and backed away from her. She frowned at it and it ran away, tail tucked fearfully between its legs.

It happened three more times and Anko looked curiously at her. "The dogs don't seem to like you for some reason," she observed.

"I noticed that," Mika replied, "I hope they don't take it into their heads to attack me though." She looked in puzzlement at the dogs slinking a goodly distance away, watching her warily and tensing every time she took a step.

Watching the dogs, she bumped into someone. Turning to apologize brought her face to face with Sasuke. His eyes widened and he flung his arms around her with a relieved cry. Anko turned and saw them, walked over to them.

"Mika where were you?" asked Sasuke, eyes wide and very happy to have found his twin. "We turned the corner and Kaa-san turned around to say something to you but you were gone!" He grabbed her hand. "Come on, Kaa-san is over here."

"Mika-chan," interrupted Anko. Sasuke and Mika turned back. "Since you've found your family again I'm off."

Sasuke looked from Anko to Mika then back to Anko. "You brought her back?" he asked. Without waiting for an answer, he caught hold of Anko's hand and tugged her along too. "You have to meet Kaa-san," he said. "She'll want to thank you." He looked back at her. "My name is Sasuke, by the way."

Anko grimaced. "I don't really think your mother is very fond of me," she muttered. "But if you insist, my name is Anko." She sped up a little to keep pace with the twins.

Pushing through a knot of people near a stall, they caught sight of a pale, dark haired woman in a dark blue kimono standing with her hands on her hips, looking around with an anxious expression on her face.

"Kaa-san!" called Sasuke, running toward her, pulling Mika and Anko with him. Mikoto turned around and gasped, knelt and held out her arms. Letting go of Anko's hand, Sasuke ran straight into them, pulling Mika with him. Mikoto folded her arms fiercely around them both and kissed them thoroughly. Sasuke squirmed, turning in her embrace to face Anko.

"Kaa-san, she found Mika," he said, gesturing toward Anko. Mikoto looked up, spotted Anko and rose to her feet, taking one of the twin's hands in each of her own.

"Thank you Mitarashi-san, for returning my daughter to me." Mikoto bowed stiffly, her speech formal.

"My pleasure, Mikoto-sama." Anko had a glint of malicious distaste in her eye as she looked at Mikoto, but it disappeared as she looked down at Mika with a small smile. Mika smiled back and Anko's expression turned wistful. "See you 'round kid." She ruffled Mika's hair and strode off through the crowd in the direction they had come.

Mikoto pulled Mika around to face her and crouched in front of her. "Mika-chan, why did you disappear?" she asked, taking her daughter's face in her hands and looking at her sternly.

"Sorry Kaa-san. I was looking at a stand and when I turned back you and Sasuke were gone." Mika put on her most pitiful face and widened her eyes cutely at Mikoto. She had perfected this expression courtesy of Sasuke. It worked like a charm every time on Mikoto and Itachi whenever he used it. It had never been attempted on Fugaku though. Neither of the twins dared cross their father. For Mika, it only worked on Mikoto and Sasuke and other family members excepting Itachi. Never had she managed to fool him with it. Like the Yondaime, Itachi knew she was unusual and treated her that way when they were alone together.

_Itachi was sitting on the porch, his four-year-old sister nestled up against his side, arms wrapped around her, both watching Sasuke play in the sun. Their parents weren't home, their Father was at work and their Mother had gone visiting, both had left Itachi in charge since he had no missions that day. Itachi focused on Sasuke trying to climb the gnarly old tree in the backyard. Mika wiggled closer, and when he was sure Sasuke wasn't going to fall out of the branches, he shifted her into his lap, ignoring her small squeak of surprise and rested his chin on Mika's head. He was supposed to be working on his Katon, but Sasuke had used the chibi-eyes-of-fawking-doom on him and he'd caved spectacularly. _

"_Mika," he asked after a few moments, "do you know what you remind me of?" Itachi moved his chin and tilted his head so he could see her face. _

_Mika shook her head. "No, I don't," she answered, looking at him curiously._

_He smiled and rested his forehead on hers. "A wolf."_

_She blinked in disbelief. "A wolf? Why?"_

"_Because you seem like one. I'll read you something about wolves later, okay? There are a lot of great stories about them." _

_She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I like wolves, they're nice."_

"_They are also very dangerous." Itachi looked gravely at her. "I have a feeling you will be very special, Mika." _

_She looked seriously at him, and then rested her head on his shoulder. _

_Sasuke, up in the tree, spied Mika and Itachi resting comfortably on the porch and scrambled down the tree to join them, tumbling into their laps, giggling impishly. _

Mikoto sighed when she saw her daughter's expression. Those two… Mika had been no trouble at all until Sasuke had gotten her to learn how to make the puppy-eyes-of-doom. Honestly, sometimes she wondered how in the world her eldest managed to stand firm against that adorable look on her daughter's face right now. She also wondered how it completely shattered his defenses when Sasuke used it instead. Sasuke pretty much had those two both wrapped around his cute little finger. Then again, Itachi and Mika had always been able to understand each other better than other people could them individually. A lot of the clan members even said that Mika took after Itachi more than Sasuke himself did. One afternoon after a chance meeting at the supermarket with the reinstated Third Hokage, she had been forced to examine the possibility that she might have lost another child to being a prodigy. Still… considering what the Clan was now going through, it might not be a bad thing if two of her children grew to become powerful shinobi.

She sighed. "Alright," she relented. "Let's get home and start making out lists of what you need for next week." Mika and Sasuke grinned and grabbed her hands, pulling her with them.

"Okay, okay," she laughed. "School starts next week, take it easy you two."

00000000000000

Mika squirmed under the blankets and burrowed deeper into their cozy warmth, curling up tighter.

_Hmm, comfy. _

During the week following the Enrollment Ceremony, she and Sasuke had eagerly gotten the Academy supplies together and pestered Itachi when he was home from missions about what he had done while there. They hadn't really gotten much information; he had only been there for a year before graduating. What information they did get they squirreled away immediately.

The door of her room slammed open and her delightfully warm covers were whipped away, leaving her to face the cold air of the room without their welcome support. A warm body tackled her and she latched onto it, trying to regain some of the lost warmness of the missing blankets.

Sasuke squirmed in his sister's grasp. "Mika, get up or we'll be late for the first day of the Academy!"

His sister sat up with a yell. "Let me get dressed, okay?" She began scrambling around her room, getting her things together. The day after the Enrollment ceremony Mika had been given her own room while Sasuke stayed in their old one. The reason was now that they were in the Academy; they were old enough to assume responsibility of their own rooms. They had to keep them clean and tidy regularly.

"I'll wait for you in the kitchen, hurry up!" he ran out to scarf down his breakfast.

Today was going to be awesome, thought the twins gleefully as they got themselves ready.

**Author Notes: Woo! Fourth chapter down! Sweetness… Honestly, I thought this story would be harder to write than my other one, but as it turned out, I've already planned right up to Akatsuki's first appearance. And yes, there is a reason for Anko's appearance and Itachi's comments. But have patience, patience my love. **_**Gollum, Gollum.**_

**Review please, I want to know what you think about this, and why. If you have any suggestions, feel free.**

**Ramdayal, out. **


	5. Enter: The Orphan

**Disclaimer: I have no claim to the copyrights of Naruto. I wish I did though… Kisame would be **_**way**_** hotter if I owned him. Sadly, I don't. **

**Author notes at the bottom as usual and a (terribly) late Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! I am so sorry for being late. Switching to a new Internet provider was a great pain in wherever you think it hurts most. **

**Enter: The Orphan.**

Mika stood in front of her dresser brushing the tangles out of her inky black hair. As she worked the irritating little tangles out of her hair, she examined her reflection in the mirror. Being a baby, she hadn't really had very many opportunities to examine herself closely in a mirror. But now she leaned in closer and stared at herself.

_Wow, I look completely different. _Her hair resembled Sasuke's, but it spiked down to her shoulders instead of straight out. Her bangs parted over her left eye and the right bang angled over her right eye so she was constantly brushing it out of her face. Her eyes were very dark, like her mother and brothers', and her features were almost identical to her twin's though more delicate; ivory skin and everything else except for one detail. Unlike Sasuke, Mika had somehow inherited the pronounced tear troughs Itachi and Fugaku shared, which switched the parallel from Sasuke to Itachi.

_Huh, I actually do resemble Madara. _She pulled her hair into a small pony tail. _I bet if I tie my hair back, leave my bangs out and wear long black clothes, I could pass for a guy when I get older. _She thought about Itachi's stunning good looks. _Then again, maybe not._

A knock sounded on her door. She turned around, brush in hand as Itachi poked his head in. "Mika, are you ready yet?"

She put down the brush and grabbed her bag. "Yes, I'm ready."

He nodded. "Good." He held the door open. "I have something for you."

She stepped out into the hallway and Itachi slid the door shut, kneeling in front of her and taking something from his pocket.

"Remember how much you liked my necklace?" he asked, holding up his hand. A small black cardboard box rested on his palm.

"The one your girlfriend gave you?" Mika grinned. "Yeah."

Itachi poked her in the forehead, and smiled when she rubbed her forehead and pouted at him. "Yes, the one Kaiya gave me." He opened the box. Mika blinked, and then looked at Itachi, wide-eyed. Inside the box, resting on a bed of black silk was a silver necklace. Itachi smiled wider and took the piece of jewelry from its box, holding it out to Mika. She took it and examined it. Like Itachi's, it was made of silver and had two small circular pendants. Unlike Itachi's, instead of a third circle, the center pendant was in the shape of a wolf's fang. He took it from her fingers and unfastened the clasp.

"Turn," he said. Mika turned around, shifting her hair away from her neck so Itachi could fasten the necklace around her neck. "There," he said softly.

"Thank you, Aniki. But…" she looked at Itachi questioningly.

He touched her cheek gently. "So you'll know I'll always be here for you, as long as you have it. Alright Imouto (little sister)?"

Mika swallowed hard. _Oh, Itachi… _She put down her bag and hugged him tightly; burying her face in his shoulder to try to hide the emotions tearing at her, disregarding his protest that she would be late.

"Love you..." she whispered. He wrapped his arms even more tightly around her and kissed the top of her head.

"Okay," he said after a minute. "You're going to be really late now." He moved her arms from around his neck and picked up her bag.

"You might have to skip breakfast," he teased as they walked down the hall. Mika gave him a indignant look and he chuckled.

00000000000000000

The new students flocked outside after the break bell rang, scattering into groups and small pairs. Mika and Sasuke headed over to a shady spot under a tree with a swing and sat down. Mika opened her bag and pulled out her notebook. Inside she had scribbled down notes on what the instructor had told them in the first session. While she had already known some of what the instructor had said about the Academy, much of the information she had never heard before.

She settled down to peruse her notes as Sasuke clambered up the tree, looking for a comfortable place to sit. The other children ran about and played enthusiastically, and Sasuke slithered down the tree to join a group of boys who were running races around the ground. Mika put down her notebook and smiled as she watched them run. Spotting a familiar face she grinned, Kiba was trying to outrun Sasuke, but her brother's inborn speed kept Kiba from outdistancing him. She watched as Sasuke crossed the line scratched out in the dust two lengths ahead of the Inuzuka boy.

She grinned and moved to put her notebook back in her bag, then noticed a lonely figure standing not far away from the tree, watching the other children playing. She felt a surge of excitement, rapidly crushed by a wash of distress at the longing expression on Naruto's face as he watched the other children play.

_Tch, _she thought decisively. _Not while I'm around._ She stuck her book in her bag and walked over to Naruto. He glanced at her, and the guardedness buried in the bright blue of his eyes made her want to cry.

"Hi," she said warmly, sticking out her hand. "I'm Mika, Mika Uchiha. What's your name?"

Naruto looked at her suspiciously for a moment longer, and then relaxed his attitude slightly. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki." He shook her hand, and then turned back to watching his classmates play. Mika leaned forward to look at his face.

"Why aren't you playing with the others, Naruto?" she asked. The wish expressed by Kushina and Minato after she had met them was now crystallizing in her head into a definite certainty.

He kicked at the ground gloomily. "They won't let me. Their parents all told them to stay away from me, that I'm a "monster" 'n things like that." He darted a nervous glance at her, then quickly looked back at the ground, hunching his shoulders a little like he anticipated a blow or hard words from her.

She scoffed and planted her hands on her hips indignantly. "That's ridiculous," she stated firmly. "You're not a monster!"

Naruto looked at her wide-eyed, a hopeful expression on his face. "You don't hate me then?"

He looked so hopeful and eager that Mika felt like catching him up and hugging him like a teddy bear. _It's useless, _she thought. _Why am I such a sucker for that face on cute little kids? He's got me wrapped around his finger now. _

"No, Naruto," she reached out and ruffled his hair. "I don't hate you."

He beamed at her and did something much unexpected. Sticking out his hand with his pinkie finger extended and the other fingers curled in, he asked shyly: "Would you like to be friends?"

She blinked at him in astonishment. _That was my idea. _Seeing Naruto begin to wilt when she didn't answer right away broke her out of her inaction. She took Naruto's pinkie with her own, smiling affectionately at him.

"I'd like that, Naruto."

0000000000000

Sarutobi watched the two children walk toward the tree and sit down in the shade, chattering excitedly. He smiled; glad Naruto had found a friend and at the same time very curious about the girl as well. He remembered meeting Mikoto at the supermarket during one of the infrequent shopping trips he made when he felt the need to stretch his legs a bit. He knew she had given birth to twins from Kushina's chatter and Minato's offhand, ambiguous remarks about the female twin, and had asked after them.

Mikoto's answers had stirred his interest, but he hadn't had the opportunity to see the girl for himself. Someone who had interested Minato would undoubtedly live up to much of what was said of him or her. Kakashi was a prime example of this. He nodded to himself as he watched the two relax under the tree. He'd keep an eye on her along with Naruto.

0000000000000

The bell rang and the Academy students flooded out once again to scatter in the breeze, blown to the adults waiting in front of the Academy like little leaves on the wind. Sasuke ran outside, bag flapping against his leg, pulling Mika with him by the hand. He paused and searched the faces of the adults standing outside for his father or mother or brother. He did not see any he expected, but a young man with unruly black hair stepped toward them, smiling merrily. He stopped in front of them and bent and put his hands on his knees.

"What are you doing here Shisui-niisan?" asked Sasuke, looking up curiously at the older Uchiha.

"Well, some of the clan Elders are visiting your parents, so I volunteered to walk you guys home." Shisui straightened up and Sasuke slipped his free hand into his right one.

"Where's Itachi?" asked Mika quietly. She looked intently at her cousin, letting go of Sasuke to walk on Shisui's left.

"He's on a mission for a few days," he answered.

Mika nodded. "He would have come for us otherwise."

Shisui hummed in agreement. "How was your day?"

"Fine," answered Mika.

"Awesome!" exclaimed Sasuke, swinging his and Shisui's hands, and launched into a detailed description of what had happened that day, from morning to the moment the dismissal bell had rung. Mika interjected quietly from time to time to add to or correct Sasuke's narrative. She tensed when Sasuke briefly mentioned Naruto's latest prank on their sensei. When Sasuke had come over to them at the end of recess on their first day at Academy, she had had to plead with him not to tell anyone that she and Naruto were friends, explaining just enough about why he couldn't and what might happen if he did. Agreeing reluctantly, Sasuke had stated that it would be a good idea if Naruto only talked to Mika, then he wouldn't have to lie about his own activities, just hers. She apologized to him for making him lie for her, but she didn't want to treat Naruto like everyone else did.

Shisui noticed her reaction and watched her carefully out of the corner of his eye. Itachi had been worrying to him about how much she was taking after him and his fear of the pressure she would be put under to actually follow in his footsteps, and become another paragon Uchiha.

Shisui had listened in fascination as his friend had alternately sung her praises and then fretted about his baby sister.

00000000000

_"You know," commented Shisui, stretching lazily and laying back on the bank of the small stream running through their favorite training ground, "this is as close to actually complaining I've ever heard you come, Itachi." _

_"I know that, Shisui." Itachi dipped a rag in the water and wiped his arms clean of soot from Shisui's Katon jutsu. "But she scares me every time she gives me that I'm-not-made-of-glass-come-on-I-can-take-whatever- you-throw-at-me look. She's always pushing for one last spar, one last this, one last that. She pushes Sasuke too. Stronger, faster... It's like there's something in her that's driving her forward relentlessly. I'm afraid of what might happen..." he trailed off, washed the rag and put it in a pouch, placing the pouch in his bag. _

_"She's going to be a kunoichi," Shisui reminded his friend. "You won't always be there to make everything alright. The best thing you can do is teach her how to protect herself to come back to you safely." _

_Itachi remained silent. He set his pack aside and draped his arms over his knees. After a moment he glanced sideways at Shisui._

_"I know that. But it still scares me stiff when I think about her doing something like the things we do." He looked up at the sky. "And because she'll be a kunoichi, she could be required to do even more..." _

_Shisui sighed and sat up. "In other words, you're scared of her following your shadow." _

_"That obvious?" Itachi dropped his head on his knees._

_Shisui hummed and scooted over to the younger shinobi. "From what you've told me, she takes after you. And if she takes after you she'll be irritatingly strong, like you, and make everybody jealous of her good looks." _

_He ignored the "are-you-crazy" look Itachi gave him. "She'll be fine!" he concluded enthusiastically, slinging his arm around Itachi's shoulders. _

_"Besides," he continued in a softer, more serious tone, "a shinobi's nameless self-sacrifice is a great gift. It protects the village and the ones they care about. They protect peace from within the shadows." He turned to smile at his friend. "She'll make you proud, Itachi." _

_Itachi looked unreadably at him for a long minute, emotions flickering rapidly through his eyes. Shisui tightened his one-armed hug gently, and Itachi's expression settled into resolve as he nodded acceptance of Shisui's counsel. _

**A/N: So shoort... Impatience won out. Naughty Midan... Review and tell me what you think. Answers to questions will be given the next Author's Notes. Naruto won't be appearing again for about three or four more chapters unless I get impatient again. **


End file.
